


local vault dweller discovers prewar music, more at 11

by fourshoesfrank



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3
Genre: Classic Rock, Gen, SPECIAL INTEREST GO BRRRRR, artistic license and all that, basically they find some old CDs and listen to them lol thats it, charon's like barely in it lol, this is a little piece of something else, yes yes the divergence. whatever. who cares bro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:13:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29391042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fourshoesfrank/pseuds/fourshoesfrank
Summary: like it says on the tin. i wanted an excuse to talk about boston and joan jett. have fun
Relationships: Charon & Lone Wanderer, barely - Relationship
Kudos: 4





	local vault dweller discovers prewar music, more at 11

**Author's Note:**

> sooooooo..... i *technically* haven't played any fallout games (yet!! i am going to ask for one for my birthday!). just a disclaimer. but i HAVE spent the past month and a half hyperfixating/special interesting in the franchise, so i've watched at least 24 hours' worth of youtube playthroughs and i've read a bunch of the wiki and i've facetimed a friend and watched him play bits and pieces. so i feel like i have a decent grasp on the setting and the characters; i'm open to criticism though! this is just something fun i banged out while brainstorming for a different fic. enjoy!!!

"Rolling Stones... Black Sabbath...  Hmm, Joan Jett... Boston... Ay See Dee See? Like Prewar electricity? Zee Zee Top... Scorpions... Deaf, uh, Leh-pard? What is all this stuff, anyway?"

Josh glances up from the box of small disks he's been rifling through and looks at Charon, standing guard in the doorway. The ghoul doesn't answer, probably because he's used to Josh talking to himself. Josh clears his throat and Charon turns around, looking alert and tense. 

"Relax, man, I just got a question. You're Prewar, right?"

"Yes." He turns back towards the doorway and Josh mentally facepalms. 

"Wait, that wasn't... Ugh. I got another question. What's all this stuff?" he asks, gesturing towards the box of disks. Charon walks over and bends down to get a closer look, his armor creaking slightly as he does. They  _really_ need to get that shit repaired or replaced. 

He considers the box for a moment before he answers, "See Dees."

That's nonsense to Josh. "Huh?"

"See Dees," the ghoul repeats himself. "They contain audio recordings."

"Like holotapes?"

"Yes."

"Hmm," Josh muses. He lifts his wrist to examine his Pip-boy, but finds nothing that he could insert one of these See Dee disks into. Charon watches him for a moment before he returns to the doorway. Josh lets him go this time. 

He searches the room next. Anything vaguely resembling a Pip-boy or holotape player he brings into the middle of the space, pocketing the ammo and caps as he goes. Somebody's been using this house as a storage unit or simply a place to crash, because why would a Prewar family have so much ammunition and bottle caps lying around? They definitely wouldn't have bothered to hide the caps this well, that's for sure. Josh found a bag hidden inside the  _doorknob,_ for fuck's sake. 

"Hey, Charon," he says once he's stripped the room clean, "come here for a sec." He's pretty sure that 'for a sec' negates the order; if Charon stays for more than a second, it's of his own volition. Probably. Josh should read the contract over again, just to make sure. 

The ghoul walks over and stands at attention for more than one second. Josh shrugs, picks up a random piece of junk, and holds it up for Charon to look at. "Will this play a See Dee?"

"No. That is a hair dryer."

"This?"

"Toaster."

"This?"

"Vibrator."

"Huh. Yeah, I guess it's too skinny to fit the disk inside. How 'bout this?"

"Do you require my assistance?"

"Yeah, 'cause I dunno what half this stuff does, as you can see," Josh retorts. He gestures to the pile of ruined technology on the floor and sighs. "Would  _any_ of this stuff work?"

Without any hesitation, Charon points to a weirdly shaped box with speakers on the sides. "That is a See Dee player."

"Great! Okay, lemme just..."

He picks it up and dusts it off as best he can. It probably won't even play the stupid recordings, but hey, at least it won't be for lack of trying. 

"So, what, you just stick 'em in there like a holotape?"

"Yes."

Josh slides the flat disk from the Scorpions See Dee into the slot at the front of the See Dee player and waits, but nothing happens. Charon makes a noise that almost could've been a frustrated sigh. "May I."

It's not a question, so Josh just scoots over on the dirty floor and lets him do it. Charon hits a few buttons, waits, hits another button three times in a row, and waits some more. The speakers crackle for a moment, and then a  _ridiculously_ loud squeal comes out. Charon barely flinches, but Josh claps his hands to his ears and screams, "Turn it down!"

_That was an order, shit,_ he realizes, as Charon turns a dial on the side of the machine that makes the sound lessen until Josh's teeth no longer rattle in his skull. The song—it's music, clearly, nothing else would sound like this—still plays, but at a much more manageable volume. 

Josh fiddles with the dial and makes it a little louder, just to hear it better. The audio is astonishingly clear, save for that little crackle at the beginning. There's words in the song, but who fucking  cares about the words when Josh can hear that weird, squealy instrument going in the background? This is  _new music_ _—_ well, relatively, given its Prewar status, but still—and Josh is about to go nuts. He listens to the rest of the song and asks Charon to put another See Dee in there. 

"Do you have a preference?"

"Uh, hmm. Lemme look at the pictures one more time," Josh says, flipping through the stack laid out on the table in the back of the room. One of them has a weird mushroom kind of thing on the front, and the title says 'Boston'. Josh holds it out to Charon. 

This audio quality is  _divine._ The first song fades in slowly at first, with a recognizable instrument—guitar. The words start, but Josh still doesn't pay attention to them. The way the guitar and the drums blend into the man's voice must be some kind of witchcraft because how the hell could anybody have even  _considered_ destroying a world where people made.... Woah. 

The main melody (that's what it's called, right? Josh never paid attention to the Vault's feeble attempt at music lessons) of the song gives him goosebumps. "This shit is incredible," he says to Charon, who just stands there like the music hasn't done anything to him. Okay, that has to be some kind of brainwashing side effect, because, like Josh said, this shit is just  _incredible._ The song fades down, and Josh gets ready for the next one, but then it starts up again? and somehow gets even better? Holy crap. 

The song actually does switch to another the next time it fades out, and this one sounds just as good, if not better. It's more guitar, but there's  _two different kinds_ going at the _same_ _time_ and holy shit now there's singing...

He pays attention to the words this time. It's just a guy singing about how he wants to relax, basically, but the way his voice goes into the instruments is—

And now the crunchy guitar starts up again in earnest,  _wow,_ this is some good stuff...

The next one isn't that good, so Josh switches out the Boston See Dee for one with a lady leaning against a wall on the front. The only words he can make out are 'Joan Jett', but it looks like there was more. Somebody's torn away the rest, probably whoever stored their caps in here. 

This See Dee isn't in very good shape; only one of the songs will play clearly. But the song is  _super_ good, so that's alright. It's a woman singing this time, and the guitar music sounds different from the Scorpions and the Boston guitars. Is that called a key? Key change? Who knows. Josh bets Joan Jett would know. 

It's getting dark. They should move on, before the cap stasher comes back. Josh carefully collects all the See Dees up and slides them into his bag, followed by the player. He'll take the contraption apart later, figure out a way to make his Pip-boy play the music on its own. 

**Author's Note:**

> listening to boston for the first time is a fuckig religious experience okay! (i say, as an atheist). like i said up top, feedback would absolutely make my day. feel free to comment/kudos to your heart's content. thanks 4 reading


End file.
